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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Coach Joel Quenneville has seen the St. Louis Blues win the most games in the NHL this season. Their victory over the Phoenix Coyotes might have been the best one yet.
|  | | Coyotes goalie Dean Burke made some snazzy saves, like this one on Michal Handzus, but St. Louis got the win. |
Roman Turek made 16 saves to record his fifth shutout as the
Blues extended their unbeaten streak to four with a 4-0 win Tuesday
night against the Coyotes.
"It's up there," said Quenneville, as to where this game ranks
with the rest of the wins. "We certainly were rock solid across
the board."
The Blues, tops in the league with 43 victories, held the
Coyotes to just 16 shots -- including just two from the 10:00 mark
of the first period through the second period.
"It was like trying to start a fire but the wood was wet,"
Phoenix coach Bob Francis said. "They don't give you much. They'll
come at you hard and give you very little."
St. Louis got balanced offense with 11 players earning points.
Jeff Finley, Michal Handzus, Marty Reasoner and Scott Young scored
goals as the Blues peppered Sean Burke with 30 shots.
Lubos Bartecko and Pavol Demitra assisted on Handzus' goal,
giving that line 56 points in the last 17 games.
"That was exactly the way we should be playing when we're
playing our best," Finley said. "It took us almost two periods to
get that second goal, but we felt like were in control of the game
throughout."
Burke, in the Phoenix goal, saw the same thing.
"They outplayed us from minute one," he said. "They had the
better of the play and they were the better team."
Turek, with 35 wins, is one away from tying Curtis Joseph's team
record for most in a season established in 1993-94.
The St. Louis goalie downplayed his role in Tuesday's win.
"I don't feel like it was my shutout," Turek said. "I feel
like it was the team's. It's because of the way we play, not
because of me."
St. Louis, 9-1-1 in its last 11, lowered its league-leading
goals against average to 1.99. The Blues have allowed two goals or
less in 47 of 66 games and are 37-3-7 in those contests.
Burke kept it scoreless until Finley put in his second goal at
7:19 of the second period. Finley broke in 2-on-1 with Tyson Nash,
and scored on a rebound on Nash's slap shot.
With just 43 seconds left in the period, Handzus gave the Blues
some insurance thanks to some nice work by Bartecko. After firing a
centering pass from Demitra wide of the goal, Bartecko tracked the
puck down behind the net and fed Handzus in front. Handzus put it
over Burke for his 22nd goal.
Reasoner scored his eighth off a rebound of Dave Ellett's shot
at 12:39 of the third. Young scored on a pass from Craig Conroy at
14:29.
St. Louis is the only team with a perfect record (29-0-0) when
leading after two periods.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Phoenix Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
RECAPS
Washington 4
Florida 2
Nashville 3
Chicago 1
St. Louis 4
Phoenix 0
Colorado 8
Calgary 3
Toronto 2
Edmonton 0
Detroit 3
Los Angeles 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Lubos Bartecko feeds Michal Handzus for the score.
avi: 725 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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